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Saturday, February 9, 2008
Am I just getting old, or is time flying by far too quickly? Seems no time since the first heat of Norway's Melodi Grand Prix 2008 - tonight the final took place at Oslo Spektrum, and was excellently staged as always by NRK and presented efficiently by Per Sundnes (although I'm still missing lovely Stian Barsnes Simonsen :( )
1. "Get Up" - Crash: the kind of teen-rock-pop very much in vogue in Europe at present, but they struck me as a little old for this kind of thing?
2. "Andagassii" - Ann-Mari Andersen: Nice to see a Sami entry in the final, but I thought it was a little throwaway compared to the Stavanger semi-final version Poor draw position too.
3. "Hold On" - Tinkerbells: qualifier from the midweek Sistesjansen contest. Nice enough, but but they're still three Shania impersonators on a night out, and this was only ever going to be an also-ran.
4. "Am I Supposed To Love Again" - Veronica Akselsen: terminally old-fashioned ballad which could have appealed to some sectors of the ESC voting public, but I'm glad it didn't win.
5. "Far Away" - King of Trolls: Most cynical attempt this year to win Eurovision. It's as if they put Lordi, Roger Pontare and every remotely 'ethnic' entry into a blender and this was the result. That was why I didn't want this to represent Norway this year.
6. "Som I Himmelen" - Ole Ivars: another car-crash Sistesjansen qualifier. Swaying dansband for the over-90s. Did anyone hear little snippets of "Lady Lynda" in this one?
7. "Eastern Wind" - Torstein Sødal: I always thought this one was in with a big chance. He has such a powerful voice and yet again gave a commanding performance.
8. "Hold On Be Strong" - Maria Haukaas Storeng: A dream draw (never underestimate this) and this retro-Winehouse style is very popular at the moment (well at least in the UK anyway).
Interval act: the living legend that is .....JAHN TEIGEN!!!!
It was inevitable that MGP would give us the most famous of all Norsk ESC contestants in the final - and they delivered. The mighty Jahn - with that hair he looks like an ageing E-Type (!) gave us a medley of his hits and didn't disappoint the Spektrum audience.
Superfinal: Veronica / King of Trolls / Maria Haukaas Storeng / Torstein Sødal.
Interval act (again): Guri Schanke :(((((( think Geri Halliwell in about 40 years time and voila, Ms Schanke.
Voting, blah blah blah.
Result: Maria won, Torstein 2nd, Troll bloke 3rd and Veronica 4th. MGP has seen better final line-ups over the years, but I'd call this a good result. Well done to Maria Haukaas Storeng, her song "Hold On Be Strong" (written by Mira Craig) will represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade in May.
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